Hatch Your Own
Use an incubator or a helpful hen to expand your flock.
BY LEAH SMITH
For the successful incubator hatching of chicken eggs, you must first have a rooster. Without a rooster, those unfertilized eggs won’t produce chicks. Roosters need to mate with a hen two or three times a week in order for the hen to lay fertile eggs.
Now that’s settled, gather enough fertilized eggs to create a clutch (storing them at the proper temperature and humidity as you do so). You must then decide if you wish to do a single clutch or practice continuous hatching. For best results, you need access to a location that will maintain a stable temperature outside the incubator so as not to disturb conditions inside; sporadically sunny windows and drafty spots won’t do.